Cas Laskowskihttps://firebrandlib.com
Librarian - Tinkerer - Techie - Firebrand
Tue, 04 Dec 2018 21:36:49 +0000 en
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1 http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngCas Laskowskihttps://firebrandlib.com
Second Class Recaphttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/12/03/second-class-recap/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/12/03/second-class-recap/#respondMon, 03 Dec 2018 08:00:32 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=250Continue reading "Second Class Recap"]]>I have had the privilege of teaching Law Practice Technology for FIU for a second semester. Developing this course has been an iterative process. Since this semester had four more weeks to fill than the summer, I took this opportunity to retool the course and redraft the assignments.

One significant change I made was to create rubrics for each assignment. All rubrics require some subjectivity in grading, but when students questioned grades, these were essential to providing answers. They also allowed me to recognize my internal bias.

Many assignments were well-presented and well-articulated but lacking some of the substance I required. Whereas others that were shorter and more concise were more thorough. My instinct was to give the former a higher grade because of the apparent effort. However, that would stray from the purpose of the assignments. Thankfully my rubrics kept me equitable in my grading.

I also tweaked the legal technology classic timekeeping assignment. Instead of focusing on weekly timekeeping assignments. I had students submit time sheets every two weeks for three weeks, using a different tracking system each week. The final portion was a reflection assignment. This seems to have made students understand the impact technology has had on administrative efficiency in law practice.

Because of an oversight on my part, students believed the technology pitch assignment was a group assignment. When I discovered the mistakes, I gave students the option to submit the assignment in the group or individually. Interestingly, working in a group did not necessarily translate to better scores.

The spread was almost the same, group or individual. I think when I teach the course again in the summer, I might record a sample pitch to highlight the difference between explaining a product and pitching it to decision makers, as several submissions were more explanation than persuasion. I may allow groups collaboration in the research and planning stages, but require shorter individual presentations in the future, and possibly have them submit a quick highlight sheet with the presentation.

This semester was a much smaller cohort, which made the workload much more manageable with LARW on my plate as well. The smaller class size did not amount to less engaged students. All the students took this course very seriously, and many put an abundance of effort into each assignment. As such, I need to put equal effort into my class materials. I will continue to restructure and revise each iteration to ensure the students get a class worthy of the work they are putting into it.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/12/03/second-class-recap/feed/0colorfulgeekDesign Thinking & Librarianshttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/11/27/design-thinking-librarians/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/11/27/design-thinking-librarians/#respondTue, 27 Nov 2018 08:00:13 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=246Continue reading "Design Thinking & Librarians"]]>There has been an increasing amount of discussion about design thinking and the law. However, there seems to be a dearth of parallel conversation in the law library circles.* We have already proven ourselves resources for legal technology initiatives. It is vital that we also become knowledge leaders in this related area.

Design thinking is a problem-solving method that purports to encourage innovation. There are several formulations of design thinking, though IDEO’s model is one of the most well-known. IBM has developed their own model of enterprise design thinking and performed one of the few studies of its impact on their bottom line.

Reading the success noted in IBM’s report, it is easy to see how partners might be swayed to adopt this method to improve law firm business. However, design thinking is not a cure-all or a must-have. Not all things need to be ‘designed.’

It is for this reason our profession needs to be informed about design thinking. As increasing numbers of firms look to design thinking to help innovate legal services, we can be guides. We can ensure that lawyers are not the only ones at the table. We can help properly frame the questions, include diverse stakeholders and perspectives, and ensure that potential adverse impacts are considered.

If you’d like to get an introduction into design thinking and how it’s used, IBM offers the first stage in their Enterprise Design Thinking certification for free. This covers IBM particular design thinking process but is still a good start. For an alternative to human-centered design read The Intergalactic Design Guide, which discusses social design thinking.**

*There was a session at the Innovation Lab at the 2016 annual conference, but not much else. **I’ll post a review of the book in a future post.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/11/27/design-thinking-librarians/feed/0colorfulgeekOpen Access Advocates in EU Call for Supporthttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/26/open-access-advocates-in-eu-call-for-support/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/26/open-access-advocates-in-eu-call-for-support/#respondThu, 26 Jul 2018 11:47:26 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=195Continue reading "Open Access Advocates in EU Call for Support"]]>In April, the EU set the fox to guard the henhouse by subcontracting Elsevier to monitor Open Science. The open access push in the EU and its advocates have had issues with Elsevier for a long while. It is not surprising that the community reaction to the news was negative. According to the complaint, a formal appeal is an option for two months after a contract is awarded, but the tender letter to Elsevier was disclosed two months and a day after the award. For this reason, advocates wrote and submitted the Complaint linked below with over one thousand signatures. They intend to send on a second set of signatures and are calling for others to consider adding their signature to the complaint. Read the linked complaint and decide for yourself.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/26/open-access-advocates-in-eu-call-for-support/feed/0colorfulgeekKIND of a Big Dealhttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/18/kind-of-a-big-deal/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/18/kind-of-a-big-deal/#respondWed, 18 Jul 2018 09:00:15 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=193Continue reading "KIND of a Big Deal"]]>I am planning to write a full review of the Latino Caucus’ ribbon fundraiser for Kids in Need of Defense, but I wanted to provide a quick update as everyone was so excited about it.

We sold every one of the 300 ribbons (including the one on my badge) and far exceed my original hope of $150 by raising, as of this post, a grand total of $2,857!

I am floored. You are all amazing. I am leaving the online portal open. Thank each one of you who chose to donate. And a ginormous thank you to Diana Koppang whose belief in this fundraiser pushed me to make it bigger and helped it be the huge success it was.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/18/kind-of-a-big-deal/feed/0colorfulgeekMid-Course Review – pt 2https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/09/mid-course-review-pt-2/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/09/mid-course-review-pt-2/#respondMon, 09 Jul 2018 00:00:18 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=183Continue reading "Mid-Course Review – pt 2"]]>I’ve included some of the legal tech course staples, like a time-keeping assignment and weekly discussions. However, I’ve tried to find ways to encourage students to take charge of their own learning as much as possible because this is an online class. Part of that effort is the group discussion lead assignment.

The group discussion lead was structured to have students use collaboration tools to connect and plan supplemental materials for a chosen week of the course. As part of the assignment, they had to create a micro-lesson, suggest additional readings, and help foster the discussions that week. This assignment has proven mildly successful but has a good deal of room for improvement in the next iteration.

Firstly, I need to reinforce what is meant by a micro-lesson. The assignment explains it is a “5-10 minute video, voice over PowerPoint presentation, or another interactive lesson. . . on a subset of the larger subject, a piece of technology that falls within that week’s topic, or a recent development in the area.” However, the first few were full lessons for the week. I reached out to the class and reminded them what the instructions were. I could not afford for this to continue. I was not looking for students to teach my class for me week-to-week.

I had to adjust the due dates for the different elements to give me time to request corrections if the assignment had to be returned for revision. Also, I am not sure I’ll keep discussion groups alive. Not in the same way at least. It is difficult to encourage actual discussion in an online class. I will do more research.

As for weekly timekeeping assignments, I think I will change that completely. Instead of an open-ended instruction to track time, I’ll have the assignment carry over three to four weeks. Each week they will have to attempt a different method and submit their time. After the last week, they will need to reflect on which way worked best for their work style and which was the most efficient, even if they were not a huge fan of the system.

The end of the semester is coming up quickly. I’ll reflect again after it ends.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/09/mid-course-review-pt-2/feed/0colorfulgeekMid Course Review – pt 1https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/07/mid-course-review-pt-1/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/07/mid-course-review-pt-1/#respondSat, 07 Jul 2018 00:51:53 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=151Continue reading "Mid Course Review – pt 1"]]>Several assignments are now in and graded, and we are over halfway through the semester, so it seems like a good time to review how the course is going so far. I’ll be teaching it again in the fall, and I have already identified some things that I’ll keep and some that will need to be tweaked.

The first major assignment was the software evaluation exercise. I knew there would be students who took it seriously and those who did the bare minimum. However, I neither expected those that did well to take their assignments as far as they did. For example, one student not only compared features but researched beyond platform capability to find that several of them had a history of breaches. Though the assignment did not ask them to review the software from a legal lens, that was for a later assignment, several discussed how their choice might differ if the decision was as an individual or part of a firm.

My goal was to get students to get their hands on the programs and be genuinely critical of them. Some students reflected that the program they had relied on for so long was not the best of those available and switched. One student commented that she enjoyed the assignment and was going to use one of the programs to collaborate with her study group next semester. They had all already signed up.

I am ecstatic. The assignment did mostly what I intended it to. However, there is room for improvement. I need to give more comprehensive instructions next time to ensure that I have enough room for variety in grading. For example, I asked them to review the features and look at strengths and weakness. This was ok, but it made it so that those at the top were very close to each other. Next time I might specify a few categories (price, audience, security) that they need to address so that I have a baseline set of points to look for.

Also, the chat option in the assignment was not on par with the others. Those submissions had the least amount of meat to them, and that was primarily due to the nature of the software. There was room to discuss beyond ‘they all do video chat,’ but not the breadth of Evernote or Basecamp. I have not yet decided whether to simply remove that option or replace it. I think the assignment has enough variety with the two, but maybe I’ll get some inspiration at AALL.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/07/07/mid-course-review-pt-1/feed/0colorfulgeekTech Competencies For Librarianshttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/24/tech-competencies-for-librarians/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/24/tech-competencies-for-librarians/#commentsSun, 24 Jun 2018 08:00:15 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=146Continue reading "Tech Competencies For Librarians"]]>Edit: This like was updated to direct to the open preprint.

Over a year ago, I responded to a call for proposals to the Journal of Academic Librarianship. I was just a few months into my new job and fresh out of library school. I was pretty sure I would get rejected, but I thought it would be good practice. I submitted a pretty barren proposal for an article on developing competency in tech as a library school student. I was surprised when they replied with a counter-proposal for an article building on Ray Laura Henry’s article The Core and More: Improving on Baseline Technology Competencies.

I went through a more than a few drafts, some periods of writer’s block, and several bouts with impostor syndrome. It is now about 10 months since I submitted my final draft, and it is published. It’s free to view for about 46 more days (it expires Aug 9). I’m pondering where to publish the preprint, but for now, it is openly accessible in final form.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/24/tech-competencies-for-librarians/feed/2colorfulgeekFor Familyhttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/22/for-family/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/22/for-family/#respondFri, 22 Jun 2018 03:20:34 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=155Continue reading "For Family"]]>Every story I read about the children separated from family hurts my heart more, and I feel as though it is a bit more difficult to breathe each time. It hits me deeply as my Abuela had to leave two of her four sons, my tios, behind in Cuba in order to build something for everyone here. Everything I have is thanks to that decision. I have sat and listened to the how hard that decision was, and how painful it was for her. Neither joined us until thirty were men with families of their own. They were fortunate as they stayed back with family, not in detention centers.

I cannot even fathom the greater pain that must be felt by these affected families. I don’t have any followers or much of a platform, but in every space I can, I will lend my voice to spread ways to help.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/22/for-family/feed/0colorfulgeekClass Preparation: Assignments & Syllabushttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/01/class-preparation-assignments-syllabus/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/01/class-preparation-assignments-syllabus/#respondFri, 01 Jun 2018 12:00:51 +0000http://firebrandlib.com/?p=137Continue reading "Class Preparation: Assignments & Syllabus"]]>My goal when I was trying to decide what assignments to give my students was to make mimic tasks they might have to perform in practice. This made a timekeeping assignment an obvious choice, but I wanted to challenge them more. More specifically I wanted them to practice skills and advanced their own skill set with each lesson. I also wanted them to engage in a bit of autodidacticism since tech competency is part of Florida’s CLE requirements.

For my first assignment, I wanted my students to reflect on the skills they lacked, pinpoint one they could expand on, and have them create a plan for advancing that skill throughout the course. This time it was two parts. The first was a creation of the training plan and the second was a reflection on the student’s progression and success with their plan.

I also tried to design two assignments that would allow them to use a bit of critical thinking and analysis when it came to legal technology and provide them the chance to engage in a way that made them a bit more confident of their skill set. The first assignment he’s a software valuation assignment where they have to compare three different software program and provide a short report on which of the three they believe is the best option and why. The second assignment is a technology that mimics going into an exhibit hall and finding a software that your particular firm may want to investigate adopting.

The final assignment was a lesson in leadership, collaboration, and teaching. It required them to work with a group to plan an additional micro-lesson with mandatory readings for one of the week’s topics. The final component was a reflection essay where they discuss the collaboration tools they used, any difficulties they had, and what solutions they found for those difficulties.

With each lesson, I wanted to include an element of reflection. true growth in any skill requires assessment at repeated intervals or else you risk becoming stagnant. This is my first time teaching this course, so I look forward to seeing student reactions to the assignments. I’m interested to see if they felt they were as helpful as I believed them to be. I will reflect on this and other aspects of my course in a future post after the course has ended.

]]>https://firebrandlib.com/2018/06/01/class-preparation-assignments-syllabus/feed/0rating-24185_640colorfulgeekDisplay the Techhttps://firebrandlib.com/2018/04/07/display-the-tech/
https://firebrandlib.com/2018/04/07/display-the-tech/#respondSat, 07 Apr 2018 00:54:32 +0000http://firebrandlib.wordpress.com/?p=115Continue reading "Display the Tech"]]>Law school technology courses are becoming ubiquitous. There are several sessions at AALL, CALI, TechShow and most regional law library association conferences. There are websites for sharing materials and discussions threads about best methods. All this is part of the push to graduate more tech competent lawyers. The best part of this movement is that many law schools are riding this momentum to add fun technologies to their arsenals and develop interesting subject courses. For the lucky tinkerer at the right school, it can be a dream playground in which to exercise your creativity. I am thankfully one such person.

At the law school, we are exploring different ways to use virtual reality, have subscriptions to various legal practice tools, and are creating great courses that bring law students together with students of other disciplines to explore tech more robustly. We have partnerships with legal tech companies, technology clinics, and incubators. There are myriad opportunities for students who are interested.

Classes and clinics are easy enough to get on a student’s radar. But showing students the full breadth of tools and software at their disposal is more difficult. “I wish I had known about that earlier,” is not an uncommon statement at the ref desk. How then to expose students to the options in a way that motivates them to use the tech available to lock it in their memory for later?

I am brainstorming an escape room scenario that requires students to use tech in different ways in order to solve puzzles and get out of the room within the time constraints. Stay tuned. I’ll post more as I develop the idea. If you are a tech company that wants to brainstorm ways to add your tech into the game, reach out. I’d love to chat.